Rio de Janeiro’s Most Notorious Murder Case Is Closed Six Years Later

  • Police arrest alleged masterminds of Marielle Franco’s murder
  • Councilwoman’s unsolved case was symbol of impunity in Brazil

A woman wears a t-shirt bearing the portrait of slain Brazilian councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2019. 

Photographer: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Brazil police arrested the alleged masterminds of the 2018 assassination of Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman whose violent death shocked Brazilians, later becoming a symbol of the fight against impunity across the nation.

The case led to the arrest of a member of Rio de Janeiro’s audit court, his brother who is a federal lawmaker and a former head of Rio’s civil police, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said on Sunday, declaring the investigation closed.